13th/14th Salary Tax Calculator Austria (Sonstige Bezüge)

Austria's 13th and 14th monthly salary payments -- the Urlaubsgeld (holiday pay, paid mid-year) and Weihnachtsgeld (Christmas bonus, paid at year-end) -- are among the most valuable quirks of the Austrian payroll system. Rather than being taxed at your regular marginal tax rate, these "sonstige Bezüge" (special payments) qualify for a dramatically more favorable flat-rate schedule under Section 67 of the Income Tax Act (EStG): 6%, 27%, or 35.75%, depending on the size of the payment, up to a ceiling called the Jahressechstel (literally, "annual sixth") -- one-sixth of your regularized annual salary.

This calculator computes exactly how much tax you'll actually pay on your 13th and 14th salary, working through the Jahressechstel ceiling, the one-time €620 exemption, the tiered preferential rates, and -- for anyone whose actual bonus payments run larger than the standard two extra monthly salaries -- what happens to the portion that exceeds the Jahressechstel (called a "Sechstelüberhang"), which loses the preferential treatment entirely.

1. Compute the Jahressechstel. This is one-sixth of your regularized annual gross salary (in the standard case, simply your monthly gross × 12, ÷ 6 -- which works out to exactly two monthly salaries, matching the standard 13th+14th structure).

$$\text{Jahressechstel} = \frac{\text{Regular Monthly Gross} \times 12}{6}$$

1. Check the Freigrenze. If the Jahressechstel itself is at or below the 2026 annual threshold (€2,615), your special payments are entirely tax-free, regardless of their size (though social insurance still applies).

1. Split into "within Jahressechstel" and "Sechstelüberhang". If your 13th+14th (plus any other special payments during the year) exceed the Jahressechstel, only the amount up to the Jahressechstel gets preferential treatment; the excess ("Sechstelüberhang") is taxed together with your regular salary at the ordinary progressive tariff instead.

1. Apply the €620 Freibetrag once. This deduction is subtracted a single time from the aggregate special payments within the Jahressechstel (net of social insurance) -- not once per payment.

1. Apply the tiered rates. 6% on the first €24,380 of the remaining amount, 27% on the next €25,000, 35.75% on the next €33,333, and -- only in extreme cases beyond roughly €83,333 -- the ordinary marginal tariff rate on any further residual.

Using the calculator's default inputs -- €3,000/month regular salary, €3,000 13th salary, €3,000 14th salary:

1. Jahressechstel: (€3,000 × 12) ÷ 6 = €6,000. Special payments total exactly €6,000 -- no Sechstelüberhang.
2. Freigrenze check: €6,000 is well above the €2,615 threshold, so tax applies.
3. Social insurance on special payments: €6,000 × 18.07% = €1,084.20. Net of SV: €6,000 − €1,084.20 = €4,915.80.
4. After the €620 Freibetrag: €4,915.80 − €620 = €4,295.80, entirely within the first 6% tier.
5. Tax: €4,295.80 × 6% = €257.75.
6. Net special payments received: €6,000 − €1,084.20 − €257.75 = €4,658.05 -- an effective rate of just 4.3% on the gross special payment.
7. Comparison: if this same €4,915.80 (net of SV) were instead added to regular taxable income and taxed at the ordinary progressive tariff, it would owe €1,474.74 in tax -- meaning the special-payment treatment saves €1,216.99.

• Additional bonuses or commissions classified as "sonstige Bezüge" beyond the standard 13th/14th are supported here (via the Sechstelüberhang calculation) but only if you enter their actual gross amounts in the 13th/14th fields -- this calculator does not separately track a third or fourth special payment category.
• Church tax (Kirchenbeitrag) or other post-tax payroll deductions.
• Part-year employment, where the Jahressechstel calculation uses a more complex averaging formula based on months actually worked, rather than the simple monthly-gross × 12 ÷ 6 shortcut used here (which is exact for a full-year, standard-structure employee).
• The rare residual band beyond €83,333 of within-Sechstel special payments (net of the Freibetrag) -- extremely uncommon in practice, but technically taxed at the ordinary marginal rate rather than a further preferential tier; this calculator applies that marginal-rate fallback but it is not separately verified against a dedicated worked example from a primary source.
• The exact €2,615 annual Freigrenze figure -- sourced from a secondary tax-advisory aggregator; the primary BMF/RIS text could not be reached this session to independently confirm this specific number (see the Sources note below).

• Applying your regular marginal tax rate to the 13th/14th salary. This is the single most common overestimate -- most employees' special payments are taxed at a flat 6%, far below their marginal rate on regular income (which can be 30%, 40%, or higher).
• Forgetting the €620 Freibetrag only applies once per year, not per payment. It's a single deduction from the combined 13th+14th (and any other sonstige Bezüge) within the Jahressechstel, not €620 off each individual payment.
• Assuming all bonuses automatically qualify for the preferential rate. Only payments that genuinely qualify as "sonstige Bezüge" under §67 EStG (paid at longer intervals than the normal pay period) get this treatment, and even then, only up to the Jahressechstel ceiling -- regular monthly bonuses paid every month are ordinary income, taxed at your regular marginal rate.
• Missing the Sechstelüberhang effect on a large one-off bonus. An employer paying a large discretionary bonus alongside the standard 13th/14th can inadvertently push part of it above the Jahressechstel, where it loses the preferential rate -- the "size" of a bonus, not just its label, determines its tax treatment.
• Ignoring the Freigrenze for low earners. If your Jahressechstel is small enough (below €2,615 for 2026), your entire 13th/14th salary is fully tax-free -- a fact some employees underestimate, assuming any bonus payment is automatically taxed.

• WKO (wko.at/lohnverrechnung/sonstige-bezuege-steuerliche-behandlung) and geldmarie.at (geldmarie.at/steuern/jahressechstel.html) -- Jahressechstel formula, the €620 Freibetrag, and the 6%/27%/35.75% tiered rates, cross-checked and in exact agreement.
• Dachverband der österreichischen Sozialversicherungen, "Tarifsystem" PDF, gültig ab 1.1.2026 -- employee social insurance rates applied to special payments before the preferential tax rates, fetched and verified directly.
• Verification note: the €2,615 annual Freigrenze (the threshold below which special payments are fully tax-exempt) is sourced from a secondary tax-advisory aggregator (billup.at); the primary BMF/RIS text returned repeated server errors this session and could not independently confirm this specific figure, though it is consistent with the known year-over-year indexing pattern of this threshold.